'It's been extremely dry': Farmers desperate for rain

THE dry winter weather has most Queensland farmers desperately waiting for rain.

Harrisville dairy farmer Ross McInnes says he's in a better position than most with a full dam on his property to water his herd of 500 milking cows.

Mr McInnes supplies Dairy Farmers and says financially he's probably better off than some of his fellow farmers, desperately waiting for rain.

"It's been extremely dry," Mr McInnes said.

"We're lucky here with enough water in the dam but that's not the case in many regions."

There are about 400 dairy farmers left in Queensland and many would be praying for rain. This year was one of the hottest and driest on record for Australia, according to the Climate Council, which released a new report this week.

The Climate Council expects average rainfall this spring, which fits in the Bureau's predictions.

South-east Queensland is expected to receive about 100mm of rain between now and November.

Storms have been forecast for Ipswich this Friday.

So far this month, almost no rain has been recorded by the Amberley weather station, which last month recorded only 2.8mm.

HELP US: Farmer Gregie with Sarah and Joseph Huntley and 7 month old Matilda

Farmer's book explains plight of Queensland dairy industry

A WELL-KNOWN Scenic Rim dairy farmer has penned a book offering an insider's perspective on Queensland's dairy industry.

Farmer Greg Dennis of

4Real Milk in Beaudesert's new book "Holy Cow" details the impact of buying the supermarket brand $1 milk.

He hopes the book will educate people on the importance of spending an extra couple of dollars on milk.

"If you are spending less than $2 per litre for milk you are helping to financially break a farmer somewhere in Australia," Mr Dennis, affectionately known as Farmer Gregie, said.

"We need consumers to know the truth. They are back buying cheap milk and we're back in crisis. We're back to where we were before the milk war started last year."

During the peak of the cheap milk boycott last year, Farmer Gregie saw milk sales soar by 75 per cent.

The welcomed spike didn't last though, with sales plummeting just a fortnight later.

In his book, Farmer Gregie wrote, "the choice of locally-produced milk will disappear if we don't support our local dairy farmers and this is already happening".

A fifth generation dairy farmer, he penned the book Holy Cow to give farmers a voice and to share what it is really like to live on the land and the daily battles just to survive.

"My really big passion today is to reconnect city with country so consumers understand there is a cost to their decision."